Haff disease

Haff dis·ease

(hŏf),

rhabdomyolysis resultant from an unidentified toxin contained in some fish, including turbot and buffalo fish.

[Haff, an arm of the Baltic Sea in East Prussia]

A condition defined as rhabdomyolysis within 24 hours of ingesting fish. It occurred in ‘epidemic’ waves—1924, 1925, 1940—affecting ±1000 people who lived near Königsberg Bay, Lithuania, and was recently reported in the US—all 6 cases had consumed buffalo fish—Ictiobus cyprinellusAetiology Ingestion of fish tainted with cellulose-derived toxic resins and/or arsine from paper-processing plants that discharged waste into Haff waters had been postulated; more recently, an unidentified toxins in eels and fish have been blamed

Haff disease

(hăf) [First described in persons living along the Konigsberg Haff, a German inlet of the Baltic Sea]

A rare syndrome of rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown) from eating certain kinds of fish. It is believed to result from ingestion of a marine toxin.

Although Haff disease is traditionally an epidemic foodborne illness, these six cases occurred in two clusters and as one sporadic case.

Among these was arsenic poisoning (4), which is still cited in modern medical dictionaries as the cause of Haff disease (5).

Based on the clinical description of the original cases from 1924 to 1933, we defined a case of Haff disease as illness in a person with unexplained rhabdomyolysis who had eaten fish in the 24 hours before onset of symptoms.

From March through August 1997, two clusters of Haff disease cases occurred in Los Angeles, California, and St.

Historically, Haff disease has been identified during seasonal outbreaks in Europe.

Most reported cases or outbreaks of Haff disease have been associated with freshwater fish, unlike most other seafood-related illnesses (e.

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